Guide to UNESCO World Heritage Sites
If you have been following this blog for a while, you would know that one of the things I dislike more than anything (when it comes to travel) is over-inflated hype. I like an honest assessment more than anything, which is the reason why I started the idea of ranking world heritage sites in the first place. The Terracotta Army definitely lives up to the hype.
[This failed to post last Monday…I just noticed today…oops]
Where am I? Where was I headed? I am lost for what seems like the tenth time, and you know what? It feels awesome! Read more
Losing, failing, being defeated! There is no nice way to say it and in today’s sporting world, not measuring up to expectations could be the end of your career. Teams want to win and they want to win now. While we might think that the stakes are higher now than ever, at the end of the day, athletes still have their millions of dollars, their families, and their health. Losing a ball game for the ancient Maya had slightly higher stakes however. Lose the game, lose your head. Read more
Travel tips from a local? That seems to be a trend these days, and one I don’t fully buy as locals aren’t travel wizards that magically know where all the best spots are. But it is hidden gems like Guanajuato that have made this trend so huge, as it is a fantastic place mostly traveled by local Mexicans. Read more
On our very first UNESCO Monday guest post, we welcome a picture from my very own girlfriend, Sidney (EunKyoung ) Choi. This is a picture I practically begged for as she captured my favorite moment of Komodo National Park through her camera while I was busy filming. This is how she describes the fantastic experience.
It was my first trip ever to South East Asia, and even though I am also from Asia, it was totally new to me. There was the super clean sea water that was so clear, I could even see the bottom of the ocean. The untouched nature, especially the wild animals in a national park (in the national park where I live, you’re lucky if you can see squirrels or frogs), was amazing, strange, and exciting. One of my days in Indonesia, I went to Rinca Island in Komodo National Park to see Komodo dragons. Since the guide said it is not that easy to run into a dragon on the trails, I didn’t expect that much, but I guess we were lucky. The one we saw was injured and barely moved, but it was enough to be amazed.
On our way out of the trekking, we found this Komodo near the ‘kitchen.’ There were about 7~8 Komodo dragons trying to get some food from the ranger kitchen. I know it doesn’t sound like something one of the scariest predators in the world would be doing, but yeah, that was exactly what they were up to. It was actually the dry season on the island, so they needed to find some food out of the trails.I found this dragon to be the most desperate one as it was even standing up looking for the food. He kept standing for a while, and that was the moment I realized that Komodo dragons can actually stand up. It is pretty amazing, but kind of cute, isn’t it?
Sidney Choi is a relatively new blogger who accompanies me on as many trips abroad as possible. She recently started her own blog in her native language, Korean. Her fantastic pictures and story telling are reason enough to check it out, even if you don’t understand Korean script. Hey, it’s not like I am biased or anything.
[Want to participate and be featured on this blog? Have you visited a UNESCO World Heritage Site? Find out how to submit your pictures here.]